SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing, Lord Harrower said:

"Corey Dryden, on 27 June 2025, at the High Court in Edinburgh, you tendered a plea of guilty under section 76 procedure to a single charge of having murdered your partner, Megan Hughes.  At the time of her death, Megan was 31 years old.  She had two young children from a previous relationship.  I am grateful to Megan’s former partner, her sister and her mother for providing me with detailed and moving accounts of what sort of woman Megan was, why she was special to them, and of the terrible devastation you have caused to her whole family.  As Megan’s family has explained, such was the nature of the injuries you inflicted, they were deprived of the opportunity to look upon her face one last time.  No sentence of this court can alleviate their anguish.   

Your relationship with Megan only began in early 2024.  By July you were sharing a home in the village of Chirnside, near Duns.  On 22 September 2024, there was an incident at a local pub, as a result of which the police were called.  When they arrived, they witnessed you shouting and swearing at Megan and calling her derogatory names.  You later pled guilty to a charge of behaving in a threatening or intimidating manner and were fined £300.  According to the author of the pre-sentencing report, Megan had expressed a fear that you would kill her if she returned home that night.  

Ultimately, those fears were realised.  In the early hours of Sunday, 9 February 2025, you subjected Megan to a sustained and savage attack, using a large kitchen knife and a claw hammer. The post mortem examination revealed 27 stab wounds to the front and back of her chest, her face, her neck and her left arm.  In addition, she sustained blunt force trauma to her face, her forehead and the back of her head, together with an associated underlying fracture of her skull.  Some of these blows penetrated bone and were likely caused by severe force.  Others struck vital organs and damaged veins, causing significant blood loss from which Megan ultimately died.  Megan also sustained defensive-type injuries to her left thumb and left wrist, indicating that she remained conscious and aware of what was happening during at least part of the attack.

The circumstances in which this murder took place remain unclear.  The agreed narrative states that, at about 2:15am, your next-door neighbour was woken to the sound of a disturbance.  She heard Megan repeatedly shouting for help, and you telling her to shut up.  At about 3:45am, you were observed by a police officer on the A6105.  During your brief conversation with him, you made no mention of what you had done. It wasn’t until 4:34am, two and a quarter hours after the incident, that you telephoned the emergency services.  During that call you falsely stated that Megan had stabbed herself after she had attacked you with a hammer.  Later that morning, you admitted to inflicting the blows, but claimed they were in self-defence, although the forensic medical examiner could find no defensive injuries to your hands. You also admitted to having drunk a bottle and a half of wine the previous evening, but refused to provide a blood sample until long after any alcohol would have left your system.  You have provided no explanation for why the kitchen knife used to kill Megan was found in the palm of her right hand.   When asked why you kept a knife and a hammer in the bedroom at all, you said that you were concerned about the possibility of a break-in, although there had been no history of break-ins at your home, and no known issues with neighbouring properties.  You continually refer to having “blanked out” or your recollection being a “blur”.  The result of all of this is that Megan’s family have to live with what they refer to as the “constant torture” of not knowing the circumstances in which you murdered their loved one. 

In this trail of confusion that you have left behind, there are traces of pre-meditation.  For example, in the days leading up to the murder, you sent texts to friends and family in which you said that “living here could make [you] [g]o to jail”, that you were “gonna do time”, and that you wished you were single.  At the very least, you were clearly struggling, as the narrative puts it, “to manage [your] emotions within the context of the relationship”.  I have taken account of the fact that the charge to which you have pled guilty does not go so far as to allege that you had evinced malice and ill will towards Megan.

Analysis of the blood sample taken from you to which I have already referred revealed the presence of diazepam and its metabolites, as well as dihydrocodeine.  You were unable to recall whether the latter, an analgesic, had been prescribed to deal with pain you may have been experiencing following knee surgery.  The narrative states that diazepam, normally a sedative, has an uncommon side effect known as “paradoxical aggression”, which can be exacerbated when the drug is combined with alcohol. You have admitted to taking alcohol and street valium prior to the incident.  Since that was your choice, there can be no question of any mitigation attached to the contribution their consumption may have made to your offending behaviour.  On the contrary, it constitutes an aggravation.

The only sentence for the crime of murder is life imprisonment.  I am required to fix the punishment part, which is that part that is necessary to satisfy the requirements for retribution and deterrence but ignoring any period of confinement which may be necessary for the protection of the public.  When, and indeed whether, you will eventually be released will be a matter for the Parole Board.  I will therefore sentence you to life imprisonment to run from 11 February 2025, when you were first remanded in custody. 

In fixing the punishment part, I have taken account of everything said on your behalf in the careful submissions made by Ms Prais.  I accept that you have expressed remorse, albeit within the context of what the pre-sentencing report describes as an “internal conflict” in which you appear to be grappling with contradictory feelings of blame and accountability.  Had I been sentencing you after trial, I would have fixed the punishment part at 21 years, 18 months of which would have been attributable to the domestic aggravation.  Taking the timing of your plea into account, I will fix the punishment part at 18 years."